Articulated ankle joint for artificial feet



- April 9, 1935. E. D. MASCAU ARTICULATED ANKLE JOINT FOR ARTIFICIALFEET Filed Augl 28,.1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 9, 1935. E. D. MAscAu1,996,374

ARTICULATED ANKLE JOINT FOR ARTIFICIAL FEET Filed Aug. 28, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 2 1 a amt HHHHQ Patented Apr. 9, 1935 warren staresARTICULATED ANKLE JOINT FOR ARTIFICIAL FEET Emile Desire Mascau, Rouen,France Application August 28, 1933, Serial No. 687,206 In France August31, 1932 2 Claims.

This invention relates to artificial feet and has for its object toprovide an articulated ankle joint rendering possible any kind ofmovement of the artificial foot.

The invention has for its object more particularly to produce an anklejoint of simple con struction which will allow universal relativemovement of the foot and leg portions of the artificial limb by means ofa ball separating two U-shaped riders linked together and which can beeasily adjusted by nuts provided on the lower ends of the lower rider.Lateral movement of the foot is provided for by supporting the bend ofthe upper rider in a correspondingly shaped groove providedlongitudinally in a transverse axle bearing and bending and flexing ofthe foot is provided for by forming a recess in the foot in which theaxle bearing is free to rock.

In order that the invention may be more clear- 1y understood it will nowbe described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of an artificial foot providedwith the articulated ankle joint in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view at right angles to Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view in section of the device.

Figure l is a detail of the device as will hereinafter appear.

Figure 5 is a side elevation partly in section of part of a modifiedform of the device.

Figure 6 is a sectional View at right angles to Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a side elevation partly in section 35 of a furthermodification, and

Figure 8 is a sectional View at right angles to Figure 7.

The joint comprises two U-shaped riders l, 2 linked together andseparated by a ball 3 running 40 in grooves 4, 5 provided on the innersides of the bends of the riders I and 2. These bends are ofsubstantially rectangular cross section and the limbs of the riders areof circular cross section and threaded at their extremities to receivenuts 6, I, 8, 9 for holding them in position relatively to the calf andfoot as shown in the drawings. The limbs of the upper rider I passthrough apertures in a plate l0 resting on the bend portion of the riderwhich, as mentioned above, is of rectangular cross section.

An axle bearing II (shown separately in Figure 4) is mountedtransversely of thefoot, and comprises a hollow axle portion l2, li anda helm-spherical portion I3 provided with a longitudinal groove M whichis U-shaped to receive the U-shaped bend of the upper rider l Thisarrangement provides for the lateral movement of the foot by the rider 1moving in the groove M about the ball 3. This movement is controlled bymeans of helical compression springs l5 and it arranged in the hollowportions I2, 52 of the axle bearing H and engaging the underside of theplate it. The springs l5, it are held inclined towards the joint bymeans of gudgeon pins it, it and ll, ll which are fixed respectively tothe axle bearing H and to the underside of the plate l0.

The bending and flexing movements of the foot are provided for byforming a recess in the foot shaped to receive the axle bearing H andallowing the bearing to rock in the recess about the ball 3 according tothe movement of the upper rider i. This movement is controlled by meansof cushioning members of rubber or other suitable material mounted inrecesses formed in the foot.

Thus it will be seen that all movement of the foot takes place about theball 3 as centre and the compression springs l5 remain always in thedirection of the calf and operate in a straight position irrespective ofthe position of the foot. The lower rider 2 on which the foot issuspended is preferably shorter and wider than the upper rider i andholds in contact the various com-' ponents of the articulated jointwhereby the latter can be adjusted by adjusting the screws 8 and 9.

The joint can be used in connection with any kind of foot and calf butis shown in Figures 1 and 2 as applied to wooden calves, in Figures 5and 6 as applied to calves of compressed wood reinforced by means ofsteel stays l8, and in Figures 7 and 8 as applied to metal calves, forexample duralumin.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. An ankle joint for artificial feet comprising a U-shaped member andmeans for securing the U-shaped member to the calf, an inverted U-shaped member linked in the first member and means for suspending thefoot from said member, a bearing mounted in a recess transversely of thefoot and having a U-shaped recess arranged longitudinally therein andrunning transversely of the foot for receiving the bend of the firstmentioned U-shaped member, a ball mounted in a groove provided in theinside of the bend of said first member and supporting the inverted,U-shaped member, lateral relative movement of the leg and foot beingallowed by motion of the U-shaped member in the recessed bearing aboutthe ball as center and bending and flexing of the foot being allowed bythe rocking of the bearing 5 in its recess about the ball as center.

2. The combination with an ankle joint as claimed in claim 1 of ahelical compression spring Hm Li." has.

